If we make news in haste, we are likely to repent at leisure

Speed is of the essence in today's high-tech media world

This day last week I shared a platform with Gerry Adams at the Ennis book festival. Arriving slightly late, he explained he'd been finalising the Sinn Fein response to the killing of two soldiers in Northern Ireland the previous night. He'd been delayed by inability to access the internet where he was staying.

Although the statement was issued before 11am, the Sinn Fein president was bothered by the delay. National news bulletins and breaking news websites had gone out without input from the party. While SF silence might not be construed as consent to the killings, it would not be positively interpreted by media outlets always hungry for objects of antipathy. Accordingly, speed was imperative.

I was struck by the changing nature of the speed demand, having decades earlier witnessed the bombing of Nassau Street. After talking to people who'd been closest to the blast, I went to the newspaper